Lahat ng Kabanata ng He let me think I won: Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 5

Chapter 1The glass slipped in Adrian’s hand.Not enough to fall. Just enough to tilt, the champagne catching the light before settling again. No one else noticed. They were too busy watching the stage.Watching him.Adrian set the glass down on a passing tray without looking. His eyes didn’t leave the man at the front of the room.Lucien Moreau stood under the gold lights like he owned them. Like he owned the whole room. Black suit, no tie, one button undone at the collar. Calm. Easy. Untouched.Winning.Again.“And the award goes to Lucien Moreau.”The applause came fast, loud, and eager. People stood. Some clapped too hard, like it might make them matter to him. Cameras flashed. A woman near the front laughed too loudly, her hand on his arm as if she had a right to be there.Adrian didn’t clap.He leaned back against the marble pillar behind him, arms crossed, jaw tight. His pulse beat steady, but there was a sharp edge under it. A feeling he didn’t like naming.He already knew the

Chapter 3The first alert hit at 5:03 a.m.Adrian didn’t wake slowly. His eyes snapped open, body already tense before his mind caught up. His phone kept buzzing on the nightstand, sharp and constant.He grabbed it.One message.Then five.Then twenty.Markets reacting.Lucien Moreau Holdings sudden drop.Trading halted in two divisions.An emergency board meeting was called.Adrian sat up, the sheets falling to his waist, heart beating fast but steady.“No…” he said under his breath.Not disbelief.Timing.Too fast.He swung his legs off the bed and stood, already opening the first report. Numbers filled the screen, moving, shifting, dropping.Fast.Too fast.This wasn’t a crack anymore.This was a break.He walked to the window, staring out at the city that still looked the same. Quiet. Calm. Like nothing had changed.But everything had.Lucien Moreau was falling.Adrian let out a slow breath.“So it’s happening,” he said softly.He should feel one thing.Victory.That’s what this w

Chapter 5Adrian didn’t knock this time.He pushed the door open like he owned the place, like he wasn’t walking back into the same room that had already unsettled him once.The light was still on.Warm. Quiet. Too calm.And there he was.Lucien Moreau hadn’t moved much. Same table. Same glass. The same slow, steady way of existing like nothing outside those walls mattered.Adrian stepped inside and shut the door behind him, harder than before.“I’m not done,” he said.Lucien glanced up, not surprised.“I didn’t think you were.”That calm again.It scraped against Adrian’s nerves.“You should be on the phone,” Adrian said, walking closer. “Fixing your mess. Not sitting here drinking like this is normal.”Lucien’s fingers tapped lightly against the glass.“What makes you think I’m not fixing it?”Adrian let out a sharp breath.“Because your company is still falling,” he said. “Nothing’s changed since this morning.”Lucien tilted his head slightly.“Not everything needs to change at onc